Information for colleges and training providers

The new qualifications will be available for first teaching from September 2021. Only learners who register for study on or after 1 September 2021 will take the new qualifications. The existing qualifications will remain in place until that date. Final learner registrations of the current Level 2 and Level 3 construction and building services engineering qualifications, used by centres for 16-19 year olds and apprentices, will take place in August 2021.

The new vocational qualifications will be restricted approved qualifications and therefore will be only available from City & Guilds | EAL – they will feature on the Qualifications in Wales (QiW) database. This means that they will be the only version of these qualifications that will be eligible for public funding. From September 2021, they will feature in the Specification of Apprenticeship Standards Wales (SASW) frameworks.

The new qualifications are developed by City & Guilds and EAL. If you are not currently using qualifications provided by either organisation and your centre would like to deliver these qualifications, you will be required to change awarding body, by 1 September 2021 for the Level 2 qualifications and by September 2022 for the Level 3, by submitting a centre approval application form.

Your organisation may be impacted in the following ways:

• With the introduction of these new Level 2 and 3 qualifications in construction and building services engineering in Wales from September 2021, many qualifications which are currently eligible for public funding will stop being funded. If an existing qualification is found to have similar purposes, aims and content it will no longer be available for use in further education or within the Specification of Apprenticeship Standards Wales (SASW) framework. At level 1, Qualifications Wales are looking at the current offer and will amend what will be funded to ensure that there is clear and complementary progression for learners.
• From September 2021, the new suite of vocational Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications will be awarded by City & Guilds or EAL and will be funded for 16 to 19 year olds, and apprentices. The GCSE, AS and A Level will be awarded by WJEC. Level 1 qualifications are currently under review by Qualification Wales.
• The subject content, structure and size of the new vocational qualifications will differ from the ones you currently use which is likely to require some of your centre delivery staff to upskill.
• External verification and the balance between internal and external assessment may change to reduce the burden of admin and volume of assessments on centres in comparison to the existing qualifications. For example, the volume and frequency of summative assessment will lessen and a more holistic and synoptic approach will be taken. This will effect assessment methods, particularly for the apprenticeship. The employer will have a new responsibility to sign off an apprentice as competent against the national occupational standard to allow the apprentice access to the final assessment.

Yes, all of the new qualifications will have specification handbooks and sample assessments available through the medium of Welsh and English. All external assessments will be available through the medium of Welsh, and centres and training providers will be provided with support to also make internal assessment available through the medium of Welsh.

We have developed some initial teaching and learning resources to support your delivery of the underpinning knowledge required. Resources are available, through the medium of English and Welsh, including qualification specifications and sample assessments. Visit the events web page and resources web page for guidance and information to help centres and providers get ready to deliver the new qualifications.

The new qualifications will be available to learners who register for qualifications on or after 1 September 2021. Current qualifications will continue to be funded up until September 2021 and there will be a transition period to allow learners who are already working towards a qualification to be able to complete. Learners who are already working towards a qualification will not be affected, and they will continue their study until they complete their qualification.

City & Guilds and EAL have developed this Skills for Wales website as a single source of information for these developing qualifications.

Be in the know by keeping an eye on this website and by signing up for news, events and qualification updates to get the information you need into your inbox.

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If you’re interested in delivering the new GCSE, AS and A level qualifications in construction and building services engineering, then visit WJEC’s website for more information. Centres currently registered with WJEC do not need to apply for additional approval to offer the GCSE, AS or A Level qualifications.